Great Dane stops sex attack, corners suspect

January 07, 2011

A good Samaritan and his Great Dane came to the aid of a girl who was being attacked Thursday in the Logan Square neighborhood and kept the suspect at bay until police arrived.

Agustin Zamora and his dog Scooby, seen at home in Chicago on Friday. Scooby helped thwart an attack on a 14-year-old girl. Zamora and the 160-pound dog chased the alleged attacker from the scene. (Tribune / Terrence Antonio James)

At 4:44 p.m. Thursday, the 14-year-old girl had just gotten off a Diversey Avenue bus near the 2800 block of North Whipple Street, and was walking north when she noticed a man following her. When she arrived at a gate near her home, the victim told police, she saw the man running toward her, according to police reports.

As she ran up the steps to her home, the man caught her, threw her to the ground and got on top of her and tried to pull her clothing off. She struggled and screamed, according to police reports, and hearing her screams a neighbor came to her aid with his dog, described as a Great Dane.

The attacker then fled into an alley at George Street. The neighbor and his dog chased after him, according to the reports, and cornered the man until police arrived.

Police arrested Larry Smith, 28, of the 3700 block of South Wells Street. He was charged with attempted criminal sexual assault, police said. Bail for Smith was set at $200,000 in a court hearing midday today.

The Great Dane didn't bite Smith, and the girl was not seriously injured.

A check of the criminal court records shows Smith has been arrested nearly 40 times since 2001, and was convicted of several felony drug offences, the most recent in 2007 for which he was sentenced to a year in prison.